The objective of this curriculum is to educate military personnel and civilian officials of the United States and its Allies to better defend the nation and prevent, prepare for, and prevail in conflicts by operating effectively in the information environment.

The curriculum is designed for both the specialist who will be assigned to an information related position and the generalist who will be assigned to a command or staff billet. The curriculum includes a core of military art and operations, emerging security challenges, intelligence and network analyses, the psychological and social dimensions of war emphasizing information strategy, political warfare, military deception, defense support to public diplomacy analytical methods, and regional studies.

In addition to the core curriculum, the program includes customizable elective sequences for each student. These sequences draw on courses throughout the Naval Postgraduate School. Each customized sequence must be approved by the academic associate for the 698 curriculum.

This flexibility allows for individual sequences which may include concentrations in cyber systems and operations, electronic warfare, intelligence support to operations in the information environment, regional studies or computer network operations. Additional areas of concentration are available to meet specific student and organizational requirements. Finally, each student will write a thesis or complete a capstone project relevant to operating in the information environment. The Information Strategy and Political Warfare curriculum is designed to develop the following competencies in its graduates:

Evaluate the global information environment and assess its impact on National Security Strategy.

Analyze the role of information to inform, persuade and influence in national military strategy and maximize its contributions to national military power.

Create a role for information operations in national information strategy in order to maximize its contributions to the non-military elements of national power.

Create relationships, linkages, and dependencies between intelligence and information operations.

Analyze the contributions of the interagency community to operations in the information environment.

Analyze the principles, capabilities and limitations of information operations across the range of military operations, to include pre and post-conflict operations.

Requirements for Entry

The Information Strategy and Political Warfare curriculum is open to all branches of the military, federal employees, international military officers and government sponsored civilians. U.S. officers must be eligible for a TOP SECRET clearance with access to Sensitive Compartmented Information based on a Special Background Investigation completed within the last five years. A baccalaureate degree earned with above average academic performance and a minimum APC of 265 is required.

Entry Date

The Information Strategy and Political Warfare curriculum is a six-quarter course of study with entry dates in January and July. If further information is needed, contact the Academic Associate or the Program Officer for this curriculum.

Degree

The Master of Science in Information Strategy and Political Warfare degree will be awarded in accordance with the following degree requirements:

This degree requires 45 quarter-hours of graduate-level work, of which 15 hours must represent courses at the 4000 level.

Completion of an acceptable thesis or capstone project.

The Chairman of the Defense Analysis Department and the Academic Associate of the Information Strategy and Political Warfare curriculum approve each individual program.

Subspecialty

Completion of the 698 curriculum qualifies officers in multiple information related specialties. The curriculum sponsor is the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy (OSD-P).

Typical Subspecialty Jobs

Command and staff positions at the LTC/CDR level and above on service staffs, JTFS,
and combatant commands.

Military Art and Operations: Graduates will understand the organization, formulation, and execution of national security strategy and national military strategy; the effects of technical developments on warfare; the capabilities and roles of military forces throughout the entire spectrum of conflict; and current defense issues.

Emerging Security Challenges: Graduates will explore major security issues among states and between states and non-state actors, with emphasis placed on examining the sources of instability and violence including ethnic conflict, insurgency, and terrorism.

Information Strategy: Graduates will understand the role of information in winning wars and achieving favorable political outcomes. To operate effectively in the information environment, graduates need to competently integrate information-related capabilities in concert with other lines of operations to:

engage and inform allied and friendly audiences about national and military objectives: Who we are, what we’re doing, why it matters

engage, inform, persuade and influence neutral audiences: Convert them to allies, or dissuade them from aiding or joining adversaries

influence adversary decision-making: Discourage, demoralize, confuse, deceive and corrupt, disrupt or usurp their ability to communicate and make decisions that will hurt us

protect US/Allied/Coalition communications, information systems and decision-making from adversary attempts to influence, corrupt, disrupt or usurp them via manipulation of the information environment

Analytical Methods and Applications: Graduates will have a foundation in analytical methods and their application to military modeling, simulations, and gaming. Close attention will be given to the ways in which such analytical techniques can be used in heuristic and decision-making tools for strategic and operational planning. Attention will be given to both historical and contemporary military applications with particular focus on the ways in which such techniques can be used to address issues of interest to the joint information operations community.

Information Systems: Graduates will have a systems-level understanding of information systems and their vulnerabilities as well as capabilities.

Intelligence Processes and Applications: Graduates will know intelligence, targeting, and assessment processes, and their applications to joint warfare through the national level, with particular emphasis given to the role of intelligence in planning, executing, and terminating information operations.

Thesis/Capstone: Graduates will demonstrate their ability to conduct independent research and analysis, and demonstrate proficiency in presenting the results in writing by means of a thesis or capstone project appropriate to this curriculum.